If customer receives an error message that says “encountered an error” when placing a credit card order, follow the steps below to check the credit card transaction:

Log into your Authorize.net account

Click on Search at the top of the page

Click on Unsettled or Pending transactions

Click on View

Find the transaction and click on the transaction ID to see the error message of why the transaction was declined, may be an issue with that card or may be an issue with your Authorize.net account or credit card processor account, you would need to contact them at this point.

If the credit card transaction is not showing this means the credit card transaction did not get to Authorize.net, next :

In your Authorize.net account , in the Account page under Security Settings click on API Login ID and Transaction Key

Generate a new transaction key by answering the security question and click Submit